


Could You Wish For Anything More?

by Chevalaile



Series: Where Does Continuum [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Berk (How to Train Your Dragon), F/M, Family, Fluff, Happy, Marriage Proposal, Moving Back to Berk, New house, Toothless the Cat Returns, Wishes, family life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 13:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18718444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chevalaile/pseuds/Chevalaile
Summary: Hiccup Haddock had been walking around with the ring in his pocket for weeks, he just couldn't find the right words.





	Could You Wish For Anything More?

It was everything Astrid had ever hoped, dreamed and wished for. The house in question was on a generous sized block, in a quiet cul-de-sac in a nice neighbourhood, the kind where local children all knew each other, and families hosted barbecues for the entire block. It was the beautiful two-story kind that she had grown up in herself as a child. There was a park down the road and good schools nearby, close to family and friends and ample job opportunities for them both. It was exactly what she had been looking for. The panelling was freshly painted, new shingles on the roof, and it even had the cute dormer windows peeking out of the roof that she adored. This house was the one.

Hiccup could not have cared less.

Being back in Berk was a fright for him. He’d reconciled with everyone of course, well except for Scott, but he hadn’t been in contact with anyone of their group for years before this.

Hiccup looked around the neighbourhood from the passenger’s side of the car and saw so many memories. The swing set that he would always race to first as a kid, the bus stop where he’d wait in the rain each morning to get to school, and with a blush staining his cheeks, recognised the pub and car park that had changed it all.

“Daddy look!” Hiccup turned around at his son’s excited cry. Hayden was pointing at an art store across from them. It still amazed him that after missing the first four years of his son’s life that he could take after him so much. Of course, he looked like Astrid though, blonde hair and the strong jawline and definitely her nose. But it was his own green eyes that shone back at him with happiness as Hayden animatedly spoke about going there after lunch, and getting a new paintbrush, and maybe he could get a new art smock for when he started his new school.

“Hey Hiccup, did you know your Daddy use to work there when we were younger?” Astrid says from the driver’s seat. Almost immediately Hayden begins to excitedly ask questions about it, how long had his Daddy worked there for? What was it like? Was it fun? Could he work there too?

Hiccup smiles as he answers his son’s questions. He can’t believe how right this all feels, and how everything had turned out for the better. Just six months ago he and Toothless had moved into Astrid’s 70’s styled apartment in the outskirts of the city. Toothless and Hayden had gotten a long like a house on fire, it was literally as if they had been raised together as siblings from day dot, and he and Astrid.

Wow.

Everything had been laid out on the table before he’d moved in.

Yes _of course_ he wanted to be in his son’s life.

No, he didn’t blame Astrid for what she had done in keeping him a secret.

Yes he remembered that drunken night, and so did she. Both had presumed the other hadn’t and was trying to save the other from awkward embarrassment.

And yes, he loved her. He always had. And to his utter surprise and delight, so did she.

But the real question that was getting in the way of their now familial relationship was to why she hadn’t tried to contact him. She knew he had been angry, and that he was ignoring all their friends. Rachel had known about Hayden, and in tow so did Tyrone. They were the ones who were trying to get him to come home to Berk and reconcile, for him to have a chance at reconciling with Astrid so that she could tell him in person. She knew even if she had tried to call him that he wasn’t going to answer her calls, and none of what had happened could simply be written to a person in an email.

_“What would I have said Hiccup? Oh, by the way, we both got completely drunk and had sex in the back of your car and I’m pregnant with your child? Yeah, I’m sure that would have gone down well.”_

She’d had a point, she always did. And that had settled everything.

And now in all terms they were ‘dating’, boyfriend and girlfriend. Living together as partners and parents of the most beautiful talented kid ever. Hiccup didn’t really like that title though. He glanced over at Astrid beside him as she navigated her way into one of the newer suburbs that neither knew very well. She was the only one in the car who wasn’t a Haddock.

He knew he wanted to marry her, and if he was being honest with himself his sixteen year old self had known that too. He’d bought a ring and it had been burning a hole in his pocket for a month now, before they had even put an offer on their house! But he hadn’t found the right time, or the right place, or the right words. Heck, he hadn’t even asked her out to begin with! It just kind of, happened. With a heavy thud of his head against the head rest he found himself realising that it was the story of his life.

“Oh look! Hiccup look! There it is!” Both Hiccups in the car looked up to see the house Astrid was excitedly pointing at. Little Hayden gasps and proudly exclaims that as he’s a big boy now he’s going to paint his own room and have a room upstairs all by himself!

The wheels of Astrid’s car stop just outside on the kerb and the family of three rush out. Hiccup can see it now, what Astrid had been so excited about. It was indeed a beautiful home, the family style he knows Astrid would love to fill with more children. It would be a new beginning for all of them.

Hiccup leans back against the car to take in the scene in front of him. Hayden has let Toothless out of his pet carrier and is excitedly running around after him as the black cat sniffs around the garden of their new home. Astrid is fumbling with paper work and keys and talking about getting a little white picket fence for the front garden to tie it in with the rest of the street. The image is perfect.

So _why_ can’t he just ask her already!?

“This is it Hiccup! Our own place!” Astrid just about squeals with happiness as she finds the key to the front door. He slips his arm around her and smiles with genuine enthusiasm. Yes, this was it.

“Well come on then! Let’s go inside!” He laughs as he pulls her down the stone path. Hayden has heard his exclamations and runs as quick as his legs can carry him to the front door.

“No, hang on a minute!” Astrid exclaims making both the Haddock boys stop in their tracks. She frantically begins rummaging through her bag until she finds the item she is looking for and holds it up in the air triumphantly.

“Family picture first!” She laughs. Hiccup watches her with a smile on his face as she sets the camera on the roof of her car and runs back to them on the door step.

“Dad I want to go up!” Hayden demands and Hiccup happily obliges, lifting the boy up onto his hip. With a small pang of sadness he realises he had gotten so short a time to do this with him and he was quickly growing too big and heavy to be held in such a way.

The three, plus Toothless the cat sitting smugly at Astrid’s feet, are blinded by the camera’s flash and break into laughter. Hayden wiggles down from his Dad’s side and takes off into the house as soon as Astrid unlocks the door. When she returns a minute later with the camera she is smiling at the photo of her family on the image preview.

Hiccup looks on ahead, into the house they now owned _together_. A set of timber stairs on the left lead up to the top floor, and further on down the hall he can see white tiles that would lead into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong Hiccup? You’ve got that questioning look on your face again.” He turns back to see her beside him, and he smirks down at her. With a quick swoop he picks her up bridal style, causing a quiet squeal to escape Astrid’s lips as she clings onto his neck for dear life.

“A gentleman is supposed to carry his lady across the threshold of their home.” He replies smoothly, receiving a light punch on the arm once he sets her down.

“Dork.” She smirks as she leads him onward for a tour of their house.

***

With paint cans in hand hours later the family returns to their new home. The previous owner’s colour choices weren’t to Astrid’s liking, so they were painting the entire house before moving in.

They spent that afternoon painting Hayden’s room. Unsurprisingly he’d chosen green for his walls. They let him do all the cutting in by himself, with Astrid trailing behind him and cleaning up the spills and mess. Hayden was chattering excitedly about his new room, having chosen the biggest room upstairs with the dormer window that you could see the park from. Hayden was telling his Dad that he hadn’t like his old room, that it had been small, and he wasn’t allowed to paint the walls in there and that he didn’t like yellow either. Hiccup laughed and agreed with him, secretly glad that he would never have to see that awful 70’s kitchen ever again. Those timber vinyl cupboards with blue countertops insulted him every time he saw them.

“Do you want to help with Mummy and Daddy’s room?” Astrid asked hours later once the first coat was on Hayden’s walls. Said child’s eyes lit up like Christmas had come early.

Hiccup and Astrid’s room is being painted blue, Astrid’s choice of course. As Hiccup begins painting the first wall, he watches Astrid and their son bicker playfully, splattering blue paint off the brushes at each other, and him on occasion. He sighs happily, wondering what he had done for his life to have turned out so perfectly. He just wished he could finally find the words to ask Astrid.

But he knew in the end that it wouldn’t matter what he said. He was certain the answer would be yes, but for some reason it was important to him to finally ask her. He hadn’t had the guts to ask her out in high school, hell he hadn’t even asked her out now and yet here she was! He hadn’t asked her to move in with him, he’d just fallen into living with her and Hayden. She had been the one to ask him to move back to Berk, to buy a house together. He’d never even asked her if she wanted kids, but watching Hayden now he knew she wanted more, and that she was incredibly happy.

When the first yawn escaped Hayden’s mouth it was time for him to go. The family were staying with Rachel for a few days while they painted, which they were incredibly grateful, and for which Ruff was probably more than excited for. Astrid had waited until he had known about Hayden before asking if it was okay to name her Godmother, _another thing he had never asked her_. Rachel was over the moon to see her Godson. The pair got along almost as well as Hayden and Toothless.

“Come on little man, let’s get to Ruff’s house,” Astrid pats their son’s hair as he yawns again. He nodded in agreement and puts his paintbrush down.

“You comin’ Hiccup?” She asks as she swings the tired almost five year old onto her back for a piggy back ride. Realising he’s spaced out again he laughs and shakes his head clear.

“I’ll clean up, you get that one off to bed and come back for me. Gotta chase Toothless up anyway.” She nods in agreement and kisses his cheek on her way out, grimacing when she touches the cold wet paint she had flicked at him earlier.

Once the pair had gone the smile left his face. Why couldn’t he just ask? They were so happy earlier, it should have been the perfect moment! They were smiling and laughing and flicking paint at each other. Picture perfect happy family and he couldn’t just ask?! It was such a simple question, four freaking words was all that was stopping him.

He just couldn’t talk to people, that must be his problem. He supposed it was similar to Astrid’s original dilemma, how to tell him. It had to be in person, she couldn’t just write him a –

That was it!

He hastily picked up Hayden’s forgotten brush and began painting his message on the wall. When he was done he stepped back to admire his handiwork, and immediately regretted it.

“Oh god, what have I done? I can’t do that!” Panicking, he turned around to grab the roller and knocked over the paint can in his haste.

“Shit!” He threw newspaper over the puddle and tried his best to mop up the quickly spreading mess. Hiccup mentally thanked Astrid for thinking to buy a tarp beforehand but cursed his luck for spilling it.

“Meow?” Hiccup looked up to see the monstrous little devil that was Toothless in the doorway. Sensing Hiccup’s distress the cat decides that it would be the perfect time to investigate what that blue liquid was, by stepping in it.

“No! Toothless no!” Too late. The cat was now sprinting away leaving little blue cat prints all over the timber floor boards. Astrid was going to kill him.

“Get back here dammit!” He took chase and immediately slipped in the puddle he’d forgotten about. His choice curse word, the one he couldn’t say in front of Hayden, flew out his mouth as he ran after his good for nothing cat.

Down the hall, into the bathroom, through Hiccup’s legs, down the stairs, through the kitchen, back up the stairs, into the master bedroom-

“AHA! Got you!” Hiccup yelled triumphantly as he finally grabbed a hold of the cat. Toothless looked up into Hiccup’s face with a questioning look. Why was his master so angry and out of breath? That had been fun!

“You little mongrel, look at all those paw prints! Do you know how much work that’s made for me? Astrid-”

“Hey Hiccup! I’m back. Ready to go?” Hiccup’s heart sank. Oh how was he going to explain the damage? He looked down at the cat who didn’t know he’d done wrong, at the puddle in the middle of the floor, which had thankfully stopped spreading, and then at the-

Oh god he’d forgotten his message on the wall!

Keeping a hold of the squirming cat, Hiccup reached for his roller and stood up to see Astrid in the doorway.

“Hiccup, you-” he watched with fear as her eyes went from the paw prints on the floor, up his paint stained pants, across to the still squirming blue flecked cat and up to his face where they quickly shot behind him to his message on the wall.

He couldn’t help but grin, feeling caught out and lost. All his cards were on the table now, and his heart was beating so loud he wouldn’t be surprised if the people in the next estate could hear it.

Astrid’s face was shocked, her eyes glued to the wall behind him. Hiccup snuck a quick glance at his message, a small doubt playing in his mind that he’d spelt something wrong.

_Astrid, will you marry me?_

Nope, definitely all spelt right. So what was taking her so long to reply?

“Astrid?” His voice was so small when he spoke that he was surprised she heard him at all. He was getting worried, her face still blank but he could see her eyes tracing his words over and again. Then suddenly a tear fell down her cheek, and she smiled the brightest smile he’d ever seen her wear.

“That mural has to stay there forever you realise.” Astrid whispered. Hiccup’s shoulders sagged with relief and Toothless finally managed to wiggle his way out of his grasp. His hands now free he plucks the ring box out of his pocket and grins to Astrid.

She can’t answer him, she’s silently tearing up and nodding ‘yes’ to him. He’s even more thankful when his shaky hands manage to slide the ring onto her finger, and it fits perfectly. There’s a tight hug after, with whispered ‘ _I love you_ ’s and exclamations of happiness.

It was all he could ever want. She was the one, the one he had always wished for.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really appreciate you taking the time to give this a read and would appreciate a kind Kudos or comment even more so. As above yes this is part of a series but they can each be enjoyed on their own. A quick mention to those who commented on Where Does spurring me to post this. Hope it lived up to your expectations xx


End file.
